His story Ken Krinsky's doctor was blunt when he told him, "You're going to die young, like your father, and you don't have much time left." Krinsky says he was morbidly obese for most of his life and that "I led myself to believe that I was the 'funny fat guy' and would die young, and that was my destiny." In May 2013, he was not only obese but getting divorced, losing his home in foreclosure and depressed. "My life was out of control," he says. After the doctor's appointment, Krinsky drove immediately to Weight Watchers and joined the Huntington chapter. Using its point system, he got his eating under control.

"I wanted to control something in my life and chose it to be what I eat and how active I am," Krinsky says. "Now, I make mindful food decisions and employ healthy routines." It has paid off. He lost 118 pounds in 24 months, and his triglycerides went from 225 to 75. His waistline is now 38, down from 50. Krinsky wants to lose 15 more pounds and will continue to go to meetings because "that's where the magic is."

Breakfast is oatmeal or a scrambled egg on whole-wheat toast and a banana. Lunch can be a Thai peanut chicken whole-wheat wrap from Au Bon Pain, a Blimpie tuna whole-wheat wrap or grilled chicken over salad. Dinner might be a vegetarian patty over whole wheat pasta. Krinsky often takes his kids to Chipotle, where, he says, they offer healthy choices. Snacks are grapes, carrots, turkey pepperoni or Mott's Healthy Harvest apple sauce.

Exercise:

Walking is his thing. He says, "Instead of going to the coffee truck, I walk around the parking lot. Before lunch, I walk around the block, 1 ¼ miles. I call it my lunchtime lap." At work, he'll also walk to a colleague's desk instead of emailing, and he parks far away in parking lots. He wears a Fit Bit and was doing 15,000 steps a day until winter set in and is already back to 12,000 daily steps. He documents his walks through posts and videos on Walk Watchers, his Facebook page.

Ann Smukler writes the Dropping Lbs column and Why You Should Buy My Home column, among other responsibilities. She is a lifelong Long Island resident and has been with Newsday since 1992 (not counting the two years she delivered Newsday on her bike in the early 1970s).